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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26131180">A Rose By Any Other Name</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/alexfisch/pseuds/alexfisch'>alexfisch</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Dark Past, During Canon, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Major Character Injury, Other, Sexual Humor, Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 09:28:24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,785</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26131180</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/alexfisch/pseuds/alexfisch</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Grell Sutcliff and Angelina Dalles are the masterminds behind the Jack the Ripper murders; a demon is hot on their trail. Is there truly a spark between the reaper and her hunter, or is she mad? Should the fact that a reaper and a demon are meant to be enemies interfere? Is it truly worth the risk? Probably not, but what the hell. After being caught and demoted, she doesn't have much to lose anyways.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Angelina Dalles | Madame Red/Grell Sutcliff, Sebastian Michaelis/Grell Sutcliff, William T. Spears/Grell Sutcliff</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Rose By Any Other Name</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hi there, this is my first post on Ao3 and I'm excited to be here! Any feedback is greatly appreciated. I plan for this to be a rather long fic with multiple chapters.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Thank you for agreeing to take on this wretch of a butler, I’m sure you’ll be able to whip him into shape in no time!”</p><p>Madam Red’s taunting was beginning to annoy Grell, especially since she knew she couldn’t react in this situation. Though they had agreed to the nature of Grell’s current role, and the helplessness hadn’t seemed to be too much of an issue in theory, she truly hated the character she was being forced to play in practice. Each time anyone (especially the little brat of an earl) spoke to her as if she were incompetent, she had to use every ounce of willpower she could gather to restrain herself from getting out her death scythe and slashing everyone to bits. Of course, she had complained about this to Angelina countless times, which only prompted her to inquire about getting Grell “help”, or in other words, only worsen the problem for her.</p><p>	There was, however, an upside to this mess, Grell reminded herself as her eye twitched in annoyance. She could barely see over the boxes of detergent she was carrying, but that didn’t completely inhibit her sight of the demon. Perhaps she would thank Madam later for setting her up with plenty of quality time with the demon. As he led her down to the laundry room, she could hear the muffled commotion of the other servants in the kitchen a few rooms away. </p><p>	“Surely, you know how to do laundry at least? It is quite simple after all,” his smooth voice inquired, snapping her out of her thoughts. His sly smile was teasing her, his blood-red eyes pulling her in. She felt her face flush in excitement and quickly nodded, hoping to come across as nervous.</p><p>	“O-of course,” she managed, quickly glancing away from the man. He smirked slyly and took the boxes from her hands, placing them in a cabinet on the far wall. She watched him carefully, not moving from her spot in the doorway. However, after Sebastian shot her a warning glance, she began to help him with the mundane tasks. Her hopes of getting closer to the demon were quickly dissipating. He remained silent for much of their time together, only speaking to correct her if she did something wrong. It wasn’t until they were nearly done that he began to speak.</p><p>	“What was your job prior to being a butler?” the demon inquired, raising an eyebrow at Grell as he folded a towel. How foolish, she thought, to not have thought of this sort of thing in advance.<br/>
“Oh, this is my first job. Madam saved my life by giving me this opportunity, I’ll be forever grateful,” she made up on the spot, hoping that it wasn’t so vague as to spark suspicion. The man nodded and reached for another towel to fold, seeming as though he was lost in thought for a moment before he spoke again.</p><p>	“I find it rather hard to believe that you can be so clumsy. You carry yourself with such elegance when you think you’re alone.”</p><p>	“I...simply get nervous around others,” she explained quickly, her face flushing yet again. Had he just called her elegant? She could nearly swoon, but she restrained herself. “I simply want to make my lady happy, but I get so worked up about it that I end up messing everything up worse than before.”</p><p>	“I see...it will come with time, I assure you,” he responded, giving her a gentle smile, though his eyes were cold. She nodded and smiled back, but after staring into his eyes for a moment, she began to realize that he was becoming suspicious. Likely he knew what she was, which wasn’t enough to pin her as the killer just yet, but it certainly would be enough for him to watch her more closely. This realization made her feel suddenly very sick with anxiety, and she knew she had to leave before she made things even worse. </p><p>	“Thank you for your kind words. I must go check on Madam, please excuse me,” Grell said as she turned, quickly leaving before the demon could protest. </p><p>⋯</p><p>        “Grell, make yourself useful for once and help Sebastian prepare dessert.”</p><p>	“Yes, my lady.”</p><p>	The evening had been going smoothly overall. Most nights were spent at the Phantomhive estate while Madam Red helped Ciel piece together the Jack the Ripper case, and tonight was no exception. As they ate, they talked over every detail they knew so far, hoping to draw new theories out of the small details. As Grell helped with the small tasks she could around the table, her mind wandered back to each murder. As the details were brought up in conversation, she was brought back to the scene; she could almost hear the screams, almost smell the blood in the air. Grell was impressed that Angelina had yet to let an incriminating detail slip about the two of them. She was grateful to have an excuse to head back to the kitchen and away from the conversation. The talk of the blood that had been spilled and the rush of knowing that they were being hunted. Hopefully, getting out of there would clear her mind enough to control her elation; she had to remain calm, she wasn’t ready to be caught just yet. As she approached the door to the kitchen, the noises of the dining table faded to the background. Grell finally let out the breath she hadn’t even realized she had been holding. Even though it wasn’t something that would normally be a challenge for her, as an actress she felt obligated to become fully committed to her role. Just as she was reaching up to adjust her glasses, a strong hand gripped her shoulder tightly and spun her around. Her breath caught in her throat as her back connected with the wall of the hallway, a gloved hand connecting with the wall with a soft thud.</p><p>Once she registered what was happening, her face flushed with a bright shade of pink as her eyes met the demons. She began to stutter out some sort of reply, but he quickly shushed her and leaned in closer. </p><p>“Do not say a word, understood?” He growled, his eyes flashing dangerously. She quickly nodded, feeling her knees growing weak. She struggled to hide her pure excitement surrounding her current predicament, though she knew any attempt to maintain her innocent persona would be futile if this went on for much longer. </p><p>“The scent of death hangs on you so strongly,” the demon said, searching for any reaction to confirm what he already knew. She gulped and glanced away, only for him to grip her chin and force her attention back to him. This was enough for her to break, and a smile quickly spread across her face. “You aren’t human, that’s for sure,” he continued.</p><p>“I could say the same about you, dear,” she retorted, placing a hand gently on his chest. “Come now, you wouldn’t want to keep your master waiting, it would be terribly unprofessional of you. Perhaps we can continue this later?”<br/>
The demon pauses, considering his options, before stepping back and taking his hands off of the reaper. “Of course. Dessert has already been prepared if you would take the tray out to the table. Do be careful not to spill anything, you have a habit of being quite clumsy,” he added, though Grell couldn’t quite tell if he meant this to be playful or condescending. She nodded and hurried into the kitchen, quickly jumping back into her facade of the helpless, timid butler. </p><p>Their conversation hadn’t changed much, but Grell couldn’t seem to keep her eyes off of the demon throughout the rest of the evening. When the time came to depart from the manor, she didn’t feel the usual rush of excitement that she felt when the time was coming for their next attack; instead, she felt an emptiness and loneliness in the pit of her stomach as she watched Sebastian close the door to the Phantomhive estate. As she drove the carriage away from the manor and into the night, she couldn’t help but think about their future together. Obviously, they were a match made in heaven, but she somehow felt as though there would always be a door between them. Perhaps one day, she would be able to show the demon her true self and they could be together. </p><p>⋯</p><p>“What I would give to have that butler for the night~” Grell cooed, grinning over at Madam Red from where she was working. The woman was leaning against the wall, simply watching as Grell tied their next victim to the chair she was in.</p><p>“Get in line, darling, every woman who has ever laid eyes on that man dreams of that very thing,” she responded. “You aren’t the first and you won’t be the last. I don’t think he’d ever even give you the time of day if he had the choice!” With that, Angelina burst into laughter. </p><p>“You wound me,” Grell joked back, though her irritation with the woman spiked. “Now, stay quiet girl, if you know what's good for you.” She playfully winked at the crying girl, who didn’t dare to even audibly reply. She was already bleeding in several places from where Grell had lost her temper and didn’t expect to make it out of the situation alive, but she hoped to improve her chances by being compliant. “And Madam, don’t you want to get in on this? What happened to the passionate enthusiasm you had at the beginning of our time together?” Grell asked as she walked over to her partner. Angelina’s face fell and she glanced away, avoiding eye contact with the reaper. “What, are you having doubts all of the sudden?” Grell questioned, her eyes glinting with anger despite her wide grin.<br/>
“No, that’s not it, I-” Angelina began to reply, but she was quickly cut off.</p><p>“Good. You go first this time then, I’ve been doing all of the dirty work lately. You can take your turn tonight,” she interjected, thrusting the knife towards the other woman.<br/>
Fear quickly danced across the woman's eyes as she hesitated to take the blade, but she knew the reaper wouldn’t hesitate to end her too if she grew bored of their little game. She grasped the handle in her hand and examined the knife before giving Grell the most genuine smile she could produce.“Of course, dear.”</p><p>“Glad to have you back,” the reaper purred, cupping the woman's face gently and caressing her cheek with her thumb, leaving a smear of blood where she touched. “We’re a team, until the end.”</p>
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